Nokia Lumia 630 - an honest quick review

[Ryan ODonnell]

As you may already know, the Nokia Lumia 630 is a new smartphone by Nokia/Microsoft running Windows Phone 8.1 preinstalled with the Lumia Cyan feature pack.
This is a quick and honest review of my experience so far.

I have purchased this handset today, SIM Free, from the Carphone Warehouse UK in bright orange.

The packaging
The packaging was relatively easy to get through, with the phone protected in a plastic bag to avoid damage. In the box was the handset, the 2,000MaH battery, a wall charger only and the Quick User Guide. When I saw the charger was wall only, I was rather disappointed that Nokia did not provide a USB cable with their own handset. Luckily, I had one from my Huawei Ascend W1 that I could use to sync my data and charge my phone. The box is small and thin and also has a new design, which is far better than that found on the previous Lumia handset packaging.

Initial phone setup
As with any Nokia handset, you have to go through the long and painful setup process of installing all of the apps. The Nokia Lumia 630 is no exception. However, it does come with the Nokia apps preinstalled along with Facebook, Skype, LINE and all of the Bing apps that Microsoft have developed.

After the setup
After setting up the phone, I did a few tweaks (as I live in the UK!) to get Cortana by setting everything to the English (United States) region. The start up time of the phone after initial setup is around 20-25 seconds, much faster than any other Windows Phone that I have used.
The on-screen navigation bar is cool as I can change the colour of it depending on my accent colour or background.

Performance
Overall performance on the Nokia Lumia 630 is outstandingly good! I have had many apps running in the background and the phone showed no signs of lag.

Would I recommend it?
Anyone who is looking for a budget phone should not look any further than the Nokia Lumia 630. Yes, there are many other competitive phones, such as the Moto E and the Nokia Lumia 520, but you are getting the latest innovations from Nokia and Microsoft from this cheap device. I would recommend this device to anyone looking for a new type of smartphone and one which they can think is more personal to them.

Price was ?89.95 at time of my purchase (Carphone Warehouse In-store, PAYG O2 upgrade)

UPDATE 25/05/2014
I now have used my Nokia Lumia 630 for a whole day and I am impressed with it so far! I have been trying the new SensorCore thing that Nokia has added and used the Bing Health & Fitness app to track my movements. At the start of the day (9AM GMT) I had 100% battery and as writing this update (9:47PM GMT) I have 34% battery, so I am most definitely impressed with the battery which has latest much longer than my previous phone, the Huawei Ascend W1!

You should give the Nokia Lumia 630 a go!

 

[anon(7900571)]

Yesterday I made my neighbour switch to her first windows phone lumia 630. She is enjoying it as I just spoke to her. On screen buttons are pretty cool as one can set it to match theme colour/accent colour. Yes the phone is very snappy (is this due to lumia cyan update ? ) and gaming on this device is just AWESOME. She was about to go for moto e but she wants to get rid of android OS :wink: oh she is still learning new features in windows phone for instance she shared one can close apps by swiping down

 

[Ryan ODonnell]

Yesterday I made my neighbour switch to her first windows phone lumia 630. She is enjoying it as I just spoke to her. On screen buttons are pretty cool as one can set it to match theme colour/accent colour. Yes the phone is very snappy (is this due to lumia cyan update ? ) and gaming on this device is just AWESOME. She was about to go for moto e but she wants to get rid of android OS :wink: oh she is still learning new features in windows phone for instance she shared one can close apps by swiping down

Could well be because of Lumia Cyan or just that Nokia make great Windows Phones!

 

[iainmann]

This is a surprisingly fast and good-looking budget phone. Should give Motorola a run for its money.
IJSMblog: Windows Phone news : Review: Nokia Lumia 630 brings high-end performance to a bargain budget swansong

 

[Roderick Aspiras]

I think its because its not fair to judge the phone via specs. Judge it by its usability. The motoG just can't cut it in the photo department. Even at 5MP, the 630 makes the motoG a second class citizen.

 

[rajat_rocks]

hi... i want to buy new windows phone ...i m heavy gamer so which phone should i buy...lumia 525 or 630....and how's your gaming experience in 630?

 

[rajat_rocks]

hi ..i want to buy new windows phone ... i m heavy gamer so which phone should i buy lumia 525 or 630.....and how was your gaming experience in 630?

 

[xandros9]

hi ..i want to buy new windows phone ... i m heavy gamer so which phone should i buy lumia 525 or 630.....and how was your gaming experience in 630?

525 no doubt about it.
The 630 would not have access to the high-end games the 525 would because the 525 has more RAM, or more breathing room for big games to run.

 

[sejgiul]

Ryan, I'm from UK but have no idea what a pay as you go upgrade is, could you explain how it works please?

As you may already know, the Nokia Lumia 630 is a new smartphone by Nokia/Microsoft running Windows Phone 8.1 preinstalled with the Lumia Cyan feature pack.
This is a quick and honest review of my experience so far.

I have purchased this handset today, SIM Free, from the Carphone Warehouse UK in bright orange.

The packaging
The packaging was relatively easy to get through, with the phone protected in a plastic bag to avoid damage. In the box was the handset, the 2,000MaH battery, a wall charger only and the Quick User Guide. When I saw the charger was wall only, I was rather disappointed that Nokia did not provide a USB cable with their own handset. Luckily, I had one from my Huawei Ascend W1 that I could use to sync my data and charge my phone. The box is small and thin and also has a new design, which is far better than that found on the previous Lumia handset packaging.

Initial phone setup
As with any Nokia handset, you have to go through the long and painful setup process of installing all of the apps. The Nokia Lumia 630 is no exception. However, it does come with the Nokia apps preinstalled along with Facebook, Skype, LINE and all of the Bing apps that Microsoft have developed.

After the setup
After setting up the phone, I did a few tweaks (as I live in the UK!) to get Cortana by setting everything to the English (United States) region. The start up time of the phone after initial setup is around 20-25 seconds, much faster than any other Windows Phone that I have used.
The on-screen navigation bar is cool as I can change the colour of it depending on my accent colour or background.

Performance
Overall performance on the Nokia Lumia 630 is outstandingly good! I have had many apps running in the background and the phone showed no signs of lag.



Would I recommend it?
Anyone who is looking for a budget phone should not look any further than the Nokia Lumia 630. Yes, there are many other competitive phones, such as the Moto E and the Nokia Lumia 520, but you are getting the latest innovations from Nokia and Microsoft from this cheap device. I would recommend this device to anyone looking for a new type of smartphone and one which they can think is more personal to them.

Price was ?89.95 at time of my purchase (Carphone Warehouse In-store, PAYG O2 upgrade)

 

[broar94]

Good review. Thanks for sharing it with us. I had a look at 630 yesterday, the screen sharpness isn't there. Not even that of lumia 620. I wish they had updated it to atleast 720p and charge a bit more extra?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using WPCentral Forums mobile app

 

[Ryan ODonnell]

Ryan, I'm from UK but have no idea what a pay as you go upgrade is, could you explain how it works please?

Hey sejgiul,
I sure can!

How the PAYG Updrades work at Carphone Warehouse. How to get started.

1. The upgrade criteria
I change phones probably almost every year, but I think that you need the same SIM card for at least a year to qualify for a cheaper upgrade (you get around 40% off doing it this way).
You need to be on participating networks (O2, EE, 3, Vodafone, GiffGaff, Talkmobile). You can check for your phone upgrade availabilty at Mobile Phones | Contract Phones | Best Mobile Phone Deals & SIMs.

2. What upgrading will do
You will keep your SIM card or if a new phone has a different SIM type, you can get another SIM size with your number transferred to it! You will keep your number and get around 40% off and you also keep your old phone.

It is much easier to get the upgrade done in store as they can do an on demand check without the hassle doing it at home!
You should give it a try; drop me an inbox if you need anything more!

 

[Ryan ODonnell]

Good review. Thanks for sharing it with us. I had a look at 630 yesterday, the screen sharpness isn't there. Not even that of lumia 620. I wish they had updated it to atleast 720p and charge a bit more extra?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using WPCentral Forums mobile app

It's my pleasure, I actually had written this review on my Lumia 630 using IE11 (I didn't have the WPCentral app at the time! I do now though!) and I was impressed in which the speed and everything performed! I agree the screen could be sharper, but with my experience with previous phones, I thought that the 630 had a sharp screen and I love the screen!
However, I do respect that other people do have opinions!

 

[raycpl]

This is a surprisingly fast and good-looking budget phone. Should give Motorola a run for its money.
IJSMblog: Windows Phone news : Review: Nokia Lumia 630 brings high-end performance to a bargain budget swansong

this...."The 630 is directly comparable with the Moto E and the Nokia wins hands down"

 

[drlacus]

Hi Ryan! Did you hear a short noise at the end of every music track before it skips to the next song or is this also fixed with cyan? Is there a popping noise when you set the volume to 0 and skip through a video?

 

[Ebuka Allison]

Hi Ryan, do you notice any lag on the start screen whereby the app icons don't show up for a while. Are the new music app and games app less laggy? Etc

 

[Ryan ODonnell]

Hey!

In response to the question by drlacus regarding a short noise at the end of every music track or skipping through a video. This has been fixed through Lumia Cyan, I have not heard any popping noises or any other noise at the end of my songs, skipping through videos or putting the volume down to 0.

In response to the question by Ebuka Allison about lag on the Start screen showing apps.
On my Lumia 630, I don't experience this lag at all going in and out of apps. The tiles load really quickly and they show up instantly. The new Music and Games apps aren't buggy on Lumia Cyan, but personally, I don't really use the Music application, I use an app called Music Hub Tile, which getsme the old music hub just like in WP8!

Hope I have answered your questions!

 

[bijak_riyandi]

Hi Ryan, do you notice any lag on the start screen whereby the app icons don't show up for a while. Are the new music app and games app less laggy? Etc

In response to the question by Ebuka Allison about lag on the Start screen showing apps.
On my Lumia 630, I don't experience this lag at all going in and out of apps. The tiles load really quickly and they show up instantly. The new Music and Games apps aren't buggy on Lumia Cyan

this is the "little piece of heaven" that we're all waiting for...

btw, the home screen animation, is it the new style or the old WP 8.0 one?

 

[sejgiul]

Awesome, thanks. It shows I can get it for ?79.95 with Vodafone thanks for the explanation, saves me ?10

Hey sejgiul,
I sure can!

How the PAYG Updrades work at Carphone Warehouse. How to get started.

1. The upgrade criteria
I change phones probably almost every year, but I think that you need the same SIM card for at least a year to qualify for a cheaper upgrade (you get around 40% off doing it this way).
You need to be on participating networks (O2, EE, 3, Vodafone, GiffGaff, Talkmobile). You can check for your phone upgrade availabilty at Mobile Phones | Contract Phones | Best Mobile Phone Deals & SIMs.

2. What upgrading will do
You will keep your SIM card or if a new phone has a different SIM type, you can get another SIM size with your number transferred to it! You will keep your number and get around 40% off and you also keep your old phone.

It is much easier to get the upgrade done in store as they can do an on demand check without the hassle doing it at home!
You should give it a try; drop me an inbox if you need anything more!

 

[Ryan ODonnell]

btw, the home screen animation, is it the new style or the old WP 8.0 one?

Hey bijak_riyandi!
The home screen animation is slightly different to Windows Phone 8, but except in Windows Phone 8.1, it looks much cooler!

 

[Ryan ODonnell]

Awesome, thanks. It shows I can get it for ?79.95 with Vodafone thanks for the explanation, saves me ?10

It's okay, I'm here to help! Are you going to get it then? :grin: